Ome Roller Slide (Kabokuen Park)

This is a great outing for families, and only about 11km from Yokota. The slide is said to be 300 meters long. It’s fun for kids and adults, and it’s FREE! There’s also a kid-sized zip line and a separate area with wooden playground structures. Bring layers of cardboard to sit on because the slide is hard on the rear. You might also want bug repellent, and if it’s been rainy expect mud. It’s probably not safe for kids under 2 because the slides are super bumpy, even in mom or dad’s lap. GPS: 35.81830, 139.28423DIRECTIONS: Turn right out the Terminal Gate onto Route 16. Take the underpass and stay on Route 16 for about 2km. Turn left onto 44, Iwakura Kaido. (The intersection, about 3.2km from the gate, is signposted “IwakuraKaido.” It’s just past a Lawson’s store on the right side of 16.) You will stay on 44 for about 7km. About halfway along you’ll pass under the Ken-O Expressway, and 44 appears to deadend. Turn left at this “T,” and then take the first right. This puts you back on 44. Stay on 44 until you see a large vertical sign that says “Chofu” on your right. Turn left at the traffic light immediately after this sign. Drive a few hundred meters down this small road, until you see a large parking lot on your left. Across from the parking lot is very sharp switchback to the right. Take it uphill. When the retaining wall ends, turn left into the parking lot. Park here. Consult the map in the parking lot to find the slide and zip line areas. -Anna Quan- Schmoldt, July 2012, photos by Sarah Straus, 2012.

5 Responses to Ome Roller Slide (Kabokuen Park)

We went today and loved it! The slide is definitely worth the short drive. The directions are perfect! I just wanted to add that although the park and slide are free, we did have to pay 300 Y for parking. We went on a Saturday so I’m not sure if they only charge on weekends or if maybe the charge is a new thing?Anyway, there was a little old man at the small booth to the parking entrance and he charged us 300 Y and we had to leave our receipt on our dashboard. It’s a small price. I just wanted to mention it because I was scrambling for small change since I had just hit the ATM and only had large bills.

This was great! It took less than 20 minutes from West Gate and was so much fun! The cardboard is a must. Bring snacks or a picnic lunch. It was a perfect park to spend 2 hours at. I would imagine this place will be stunning in the springtime! We can’t wait to go back…and as my son put it, maybe we should go back once a month to see how it changes.

We enjoyed this park too! And concur with the last 2 reviews that were added to this trip.

If you’re keen on giving the roller slide a decent go, make sure you bring some decent sturdy cardboard as it may disintegrate after some use which can cause some pain/tingling. The cardboard will need to be cut/molded into a width less than ~18inches (the width of the roller slide). Some people were using styrofoam ‘flutter boards’ to slide on and that seemed to work well.

Stopped by this park today. We found lots of land to run around and play. There’s a wooden playset with picnic tables, water fountains, and place to cookout. The scenery was beautiful and made for great pictures. We were a little disappointed with the 300m slide though. We took cardboard and that worked to a certain point, about midpoint the sliding stopped with or without cardboard and we had to manually push ourselves. The slide itself twines up a steep hill and the slide is very narrow– only petite/slender adults or small children will fit. Be prepared for your bottom to itch and tingle due to the bumpy rolling ride. Also, we were too nervous to let our 6 year old try it (slide about 9ft off the ground at some points and we didn’t know if she would stop along the way and too narrow to safely hold onto her). Loved the zip line. There was an unattended booth with a Japanese sign perhaps to pay for parking, but no one was there. We went on a Monday about 2:30 and was the only family there. Restrooms and drink vending machines onsite.